This book focuses on light-emitting diode (LED) lighting mainly for the commercial production
of horticultural crops in plant factories and greenhouses with controlled environments giving
special attention to: 1) plant growth and development as affected by the light environment and
2) business and technological opportunities and challenges with regard to LEDs. The book
contains more than 30 chapters grouped into seven parts: 1) overview of controlled-environment
agriculture and its significance 2) the effects of ambient light on plant growth and
development 3) optical and physiological characteristics of plant leaves and canopies 4)
greenhouse crop production with supplemental LED lighting 5) effects of light quality on plant
physiology and morphology 6) current status of commercial plant factories under LED lighting
and 7) basics of LEDs and LED lighting for plant cultivation. LED lighting for urban
agriculture in the forthcoming decades will not be just an advanced form of current urban
agriculture. It will be largely based on two fields: One is a new paradigm and rapidly
advancing concepts global technologies for LEDs information and communication technology
renewable energy and related expertise and their methodologies the other is basic science and
technology that should not change for the next several decades. Consideration should be given
now to future urban agriculture based on those two fields. The tremendous potentials of LED
lighting for urban agriculture are stimulating many people in various fields including
researchers businesspeople policy makers educators students community developers
architects designers and entrepreneurs. Readers of this book will understand the principle
concept design operation social roles pros and cons costs and benefits of LED lighting for
urban agriculture and its possibilities and challenges for solving local as well as global
agricultural environmental and social issues.
